1005. Seeking the blood of your souls means that the violence inflicted on charity will inevitably punish itself, the blood meaning violence, and souls meaning that which inflicts the violence. This can be seen from statements above and below; from the symbolism of blood in the negative sense; and from the symbolism of a soul in the negative sense.
From statements above: The last verse dealt with the eating of blood, which symbolizes profanation, as was shown.
From statements below: The next verse deals with the shedding of blood. The present verse, then, is about the condition and punishment of those who combine sacred things with profane.
From the symbolism of blood in the negative sense: In a positive sense blood symbolizes heavenly traits and, in respect to a regenerate spiritual person, charity (which is spiritual people's heavenly side); but in its negative sense blood symbolizes the violence inflicted on charity. Accordingly it symbolizes the opposite of charity and therefore all hatred, all vengefulness, all cruelty, and especially profanation, as the passages from the Word quoted in §§374 and 376 indicate.
From the symbolism of a soul in the negative sense: In the Word, a soul generally symbolizes life and so all living people. Our character, though, determines what kind of life we live, so a soul also symbolizes the person who inflicts violence. Many passages in the Word are capable of demonstrating this, but for the moment take just this one from Moses:
Whoever may have eaten blood, I will set my face against the souls eating blood, and I will cut them off from the midst of their people, because the soul of the flesh is in the blood. And I have given it [for use] on the altar, to make atonement over your souls, because the blood itself must atone for the soul. (Leviticus 17:10-11, 14)
This passage uses soul to mean life in three senses. 1 Many other passages also [demonstrate these senses]. 2
What follows [§§1011-1012] will show that the violence inflicted on charity inevitably punishes itself.
Footnotes:
1. In the passage, "soul" refers variously to a person ("the souls eating blood"), the physical life carried by the blood ("the soul of the flesh"), and the human soul ("to make atonement over your souls"). [LHC]
2. For a sizeable collection of biblical passages that use the word "soul," sorted according to their inner meanings, see Revelation Explained (Swedenborg 1994-1997a) §750. See also note 1 in §1000. [JSR]
